What is Flooding?
Floods are considered to be the most prevalent of all weather-related natural disasters. It can happen during various conditions: heavy and unceasing rain, ocean waves coming onshore, snow melting too fast, or even dams breaking.
Flooding may occur with only a few inches of increase in the water level or cover a house to its rooftop. It can happen quickly or over a long period, lasting for days, weeks, or more.
The most dangerous kind of flood is the Flash Flood. It happens with the destructive power of a flood but with an unpredictable and implausible speed. Flash floods occur when excessive water fills normal arid creeks or river beds and rapidly rises its water in a short period. It could happen just a little or without warning.
Where and when do floods occur?
Flooding is a hazard experienced by every household or business. It occurs in every territory and happens everywhere that receives rainfall. In the U.S., floods kill people every year more than the hazard caused by hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, or any natural disaster.
It can greatly cause interruption of power, dislodgement of chemicals, water purification, and wastewater disposal systems, as well as spillover of toxic waste sites previously stored above ground.
Although most floods do not create serious outbreaks of diseases, infectious illnesses, and chemical poisonings, they can still cause infections in those contaminated with floodwater. Also, flooded areas may be surrounded by electrical or fire hazards with downed power cords; thus, overexposed floodwater is at risk.
Floodwater
Floodwater is not just ordinary accumulated rain. Most people are aware of the risks it poses, including damage to property, destruction of crops, loss of livestock, and, most of all, the deterioration of human health.
The water is usually contaminated with sewage and infectious substances, and harmful objects made of sharp metals or debris, such as broken glass, are often hidden. If a person has been exposed to floodwater, he will likely acquire skin diseases and other related illnesses. Floods have large social consequences for every individual and the community.
Even in the agricultural and industrial aspects, floodwater has massive impacts and threats. These hazardous chemicals or substances contaminated in the floodwater will cause several health effects. Its signs and symptoms are most frequently associated with various diseases.
Your Health Is At Risk!
Low or high floodwaters can devastate your home, family, and health. If you are exposed to floodwater for longer, you must be alert that your health is at risk.
It poses various risks, which include contagious diseases, chemical hazards, and injuries. Floodwaters can potentially increase the transmission of the following infectious diseases:
Water-borne Diseases
Flooding caused by hurricanes and normal rainfall can potentially increase the transmission of water-borne diseases through water contaminated with human or animal waste.
Because direct contact with this polluted water is evident during the flood (floodwater), an increased risk of water-borne diseases may arise from wounds or dermatitis to ear, nose, and throat infections. However, these diseases are not epidemic-prone.
Epidemic-prone infections, such as zoonotic bacterial disease and leptospirosis, are transmitted directly from contaminated water. Transmission may also occur when the skin and mucous membranes come into contact with mud contaminated with rodent urine or damp soil.
Flooding and excessive sewage resulting from the increased frequency of extreme weather events aggravate factors that increase the risk of waterborne diseases.
An excess of water can pressure agricultural productivity and cause crop failure, malnutrition, starvation, population displacement, and resource conflict. Thus, these scenarios impact the prevalence of waterborne diseases.
Here are common waterborne diseases:
Vector-borne Diseases
Vectors are common during floods. They are living organisms that can spread infectious diseases from human to human or animal to human.
Many of these vectors are parasitic insects that ingest disease-producing bacteria during a blood meal from an infected host (human or animal) and inject it into a new host during their next blood meal. The best-known disease vector is mosquitoes.
Others include bugs, ticks, flies, sandflies, fleas, tritons, bugs, and other freshwater aquatic snails.
These diseases are usually found in tropical and sub-tropical regions and places where access to safe drinking water and hygiene systems is difficult. Dengue is the world's fastest-growing vector-borne disease, with a 30-fold increase in disease incidence over the last five decades.
The standing water allows mosquitoes to breed uncontrollably. People are more susceptible when living in congested areas, increasing the number of people who sleep outdoors.
One dilemma with floodwater is that it cannot be dispersed because plastic, garbage, and other debris block drains. As a result, the water stagnates for longer, which is one main factor in the spread of diseases.
By expanding the number and range of vector habitats, floodwater may indirectly lead to an increase in vector-borne diseases. It is mainly caused by heavy rainfall or an overflow of rivers that may have acted as breeding sites for mosquitoes, enriching the disaster-affected population's potential for infections like dengue, malaria, and West Nile fever.
Flooding may have initially flushed out mosquito breeding. Still, it comes back when the waters recede, and the interval is typically 6-8 weeks before the onset of a malaria epidemic.
Vectors and hosts involved in the conduction of these infectious pathogens are sensitive to climate change and other environmental factors.
It mainly affects vector-borne diseases by influencing one or more of the following: vector and host survival, reproduction, development, activity, distribution, and abundance; pathogen development, replication, maintenance, and transmission; a geographic range of pathogens, vectors, and hosts; human behavior; and disease outbreak.
Summary and Assessment of Vector-borne Diseases
Food-borne diseases include many illnesses, and public health is growing worldwide. This is caused by ingesting foods contaminated with bacteria and other microorganisms or chemicals.
Malnutrition and hunger are typically the challenges faced by most developing countries. The United States and other developed countries still have significant populations that are greatly affected by inadequate food resources and are undernourished.
Food is considered to be the main source of food-borne illnesses. These usually result from eating spoiled food or food contaminated with microbes, toxic substances, or chemical residue from floods.
Great weather events like flooding, scarcity, and wildfires can contaminate crops and fisheries with chemicals, metals, and toxicants released into the environment.
Although the possible effects of climate change on food-borne disease, nutrition, and security are mostly incidental, they can greatly affect massive populations worldwide.
Foodborne Illnesses: What You Need to Know
Food-borne Illness and Disease
Tips to Keep in Mind: Protect Your Home and Family
Before this kind of threat occurs, it is important to prepare your home and family in times of difficulty. Strong immune systems can get rid of the disease. A healthy diet and plenty of sleep are a must.
People should take preventive measures and work together to clean up their areas and dispel any stagnant water in the neighborhood.
Drinking or eating anything contaminated by floodwater can greatly cause diarrheal disease (such as E. coli or Salmonella infection). It is crucial to monitor the health risks of disasters like flooding. To protect yourself and your family, these are the key points that you should bear in mind:
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Citizens should take preventive medications. Boil water twice before drinking it. Wash all products with boiled water before cooking them. Food and water are equally essential to sustaining a person’s health regarding infections.
Food must be well-cooked, and leftovers should be covered. Food waste must be disposed of appropriately. Food should not be eaten raw. Hands should be washed frequently with antibacterial soap, especially before eating.
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Water is a basic necessity in daily life. When drinking water, ensure it comes from a safe and reliable source. If you doubt where it comes from, boil the water for at least 10 minutes to ensure its safety.
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Do not walk or swim in floodwaters to shun diseases like leptospirosis. Dispose of all waste appropriately. You have to maintain good personal hygiene and put safety first. Refrain from getting close to hanging wires and unsteady structures. If possible, stay away from them.
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Do not let children play with toys, items contaminated by floodwater, or items not sanitized or disinfected.
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Take extreme caution with potential chemical and electrical hazards. They have great potential to cause fire and explosions. Floodwaters have the strength to move dangerous waste and chemical containers far from their usual storage places, creating a risk for those who come into contact with them.
Any chemical hazards, like a propane tank, should be handled by the fire department or police.
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Be sure you have your current tetanus shot before working in flooded areas. Wounds that are in contact with a flood should be evaluated for risk.
Maintaining good hygiene during cleanup operations after a major flood is usually difficult. To avoid floodwater diseases, it is important to wash hands with soap and clean and run water, especially before work breaks, meal breaks, and at the end of work.
Specified workers or concerned citizens should take responsibility for any unsafe water in flooded areas unless the local officials or state authorities have declared it safe and secure. If no safe water supply is available for washing, you may use bottled water, water boiled for at least 10 minutes, or chemically disinfected water.
If you suspect your water is contaminated with harmful chemicals, cleanup workers may need to wear special chemical-protective outer clothing, gear, and goggles.
Before entering a contaminated area that has been flooded, you should also wear plastic or rubber gloves, boots, and other protective clothing to prevent contact with floodwater.
Using insect repellants or wearing long-sleeve shirts or long pants can decrease the risk of mosquito and other insect bites.
Conscientiously wash your hands with the utmost care, using soap and water that has been boiled or disinfected before preparing or eating foods, after using the bathroom, after participating in flood cleanup activities, and after handling objects contaminated by floodwaters, which reduces the risk of infection.
Children should also not be allowed to play in floodwaters or with toys that have been exposed to floodwaters. Toys should be disinfected.
Flood water may have high levels of untreated sewage or other harmful substances. Primary symptoms from exposure to contaminated flood water may include intestinal problems, upset stomach, vomiting, headache, and other flu-like distress.
Once a person is experiencing these symptoms and any other problems related to this illness, he should immediately seek medical attention.
Related article for further reading about Floodwaters
What do I do with my home septic system after a flood?
Risk of waterborne illness via drinking water in the United States
Journal of Infectious Disease and Pathology
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